Florida Studio Theatre Kicks Off Winter 2013 Improv Season Tonight

Sarasota's original antidepressant is back and ready to bring on the laughter in 2013. Saturday nights at 8:30pm, FST Improv will create characters and sketches on the spot. Not even the performers know what to expect - until it happens. The comedy begins tonight, January 19th for the winter season in the Goldstein Cabaret.

FST's resident funny girl and Improv director Rebecca Hopkins, who also happens to be the Managing Director of the theatre, said "What originally drew me to improv back in the last century was the roughness of it. It was instant. I was drawn the idea that comedy happens everywhere. It is right in front of us every day - you just have to know how to look at things. I have done improv in parks, movie theatres, offices and parking lots, but my greatest joy has been performing on the Goldstein stage. There is nothing like working with 100 people every Saturday night to create a new show. That's what we do - instant new play development. We take the audience's seed of an idea, interpret it, twist it and reflect it back in a way that is surprisingly true and (hopefully) funny." Taking what is right in front of them in the form of audience suggestions, the element of the unknown makes every Improv show unique - and creates some exciting and hilarious moments onstage.

Jay Hopkins has been improvising, acting, directing and writing professionally since 1988. In 2004, with his wife Diana, he formed Jester Theater (Orlando's only professional all-comedy theatre company), where he has performed in or directed several shows over the company's eight seasons. These include A Tuna Christmas, Moonlight and Magnolias, Noises Off, the Southeast premiere of The Musical of Musicals: The Musical and most recently Almost, Maine. In 2008, Samuel French, Inc. published his play The Iliad, The Odyssey and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less which is currently being performed all around the US.

FST Improv performances will begin tonight, January 19, 2013 and run for a limited engagement through February 23, 2013 in FST's Goldstein Cabaret. Tickets are $12 per person and may be purchased from the FST Box Office in person, by phone at (941) 366-9000 or online at www.FloridaStudioTheatre.org. FST is located in historic downtown Sarasota at 1241 North Palm Avenue, Sarasota Fla.

Known as Sarasota's Contemporary Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre was founded in 1973 by Jon Spelman. Starting out as a small touring company, FST traveled to places such as migrant camps and prisons. The company eventually settled down into a permanent home, acquiring the former Woman's Club building - now renamed the Keating Theatre. In the years that followed, Florida Studio Theatre established itself as a major force in American theatre, presenting Contemporary Theatre in its four theatre venues: the Keating Theatre, the Goldstein Cabaret, the Gompertz Theatre and the John C. Court Cabaret.

Even with its growth, Florida Studio Theatre remains firmly committed to making the arts accessible and affordable to a broad-based audience. Under Richard Hopkins, Artistic Director and CEO, FST develops theatre that speaks to our living, evolving and dynamically changing world. As FST grows and expands, it continues to provide audiences with challenging, contemporary drama and innovative programs.